Street sweeping and cleaning implement.



M. P. BRUMBAUGH. STREET ,SWEEPING ANDYCLEANING IMPLEMENT. APPLICATIONFlL ED APR.25. 1.91s. 7 1 21%183, Patented Jan. 16,1917;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Suva H01 'NETE s rarnr on in STREET SWEEPING AND CLEANING IMPLEMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented Jan. '16, 1917. V

Application filed April 25, 1916. Serial N 0. 93,505.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN P. BRUM- BAUGH, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at 1210 Broadway, Juniata, in the county ofBlair and State of ennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Street Sweeping and Cleaning Implements, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to street sweeping and cleaning devices.

One object is to provide a closed street sweeper or cleaning deviceembodying a dirt conveying mechanism and a brush mechanism having aplurality of spaced rows of brushes in combination with a plurality ofindependently movable elements interposed between the dirt conveyingmechanism and the brush mechanism over which and in contact with whichthe brushes contact or sweep so as to sweep the heavier particles liftedby the brush mechanism over the same and onto the conveyer mechanismwithout danger ofthe lifted dirt finding its way between the movableelements or to the side of the machine beyond the closure of thestructure.

Another object resides inthe provision of plurality of dirt or dustreceiving members mounted for rocking movement and interposed betweenthe brush mechanism and the conveyer mechanism to causethe dirt liftedby the brush mechanism to be carried onto the conveyer mechanism andv toprevent the dirt lifted by the brush mechanism from being conveyed tothe side of the machine.

A still further object is to provide a plue rality of independent,swingingly mounted dirt or dust receiving members disposed at the lowerend of the conveyer mechanism to provide in effect for a continuation ofthe conveyer mechanism at the lower end of the latter. These dustreceiving elements normally contact withthe ground and by virtue oftheir peculiar mounting, they are not hindered inthe performance oftheir functions incident to contact with obstacles or because of anyinequalities or unevenness in the surface of the street.

vVith the above and other objects in View, the present inventionconsists in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morefully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat changes may be made in the form, size, proportion and minor detailswithout departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages ofthe invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form ofsweeping mechanism connected up with a conveyance designed to transportthe matters swept up by the discharge from the sweeping mechanism intothe same, Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectional viewthrough the form of sweeping mechanism illustrated detached from thetransportation vehicle, Fig. 3 is a rear elevation partly in section,illustrating the drive gear, Fig. 41: is a detail perspective viewdisclosing in detail the dirt or dust receiving members and their mannerof operation, Fig. 5 is a sectional view through one of the dirt or dustreceiving members; and Fig. 6

or dust receiving members.

.Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings thereference character-A indicates a sweeper which is pivotally connectedby a tonguelO to a truck or other vehicle 11 fat the point-12.

he sweeper mechanism may be in the nature of an animal drawn implementor of the hand operated type, and in either event the same would embodya casing '13 and would preferably have a cylindrical enlargement 14- atits rear with its forward upper portion formedto provide a neck 15terminating in a; spout 16, the mouth of which may be inclosed by a flap17 positioned on the vehicle 11 so as to prevent the particles of mattercollected by the sweeper mechanism from being scattered about upon astreet when the collected matter is being deposited on the vehicle 11.

Drive wheels 18 support the casing 13, the wheels being mounted upontransversely alined stub axles 19 extending into the casing. A drivegear 20 and a sprocket 21 are carried at tie inner ends of the stubaxles.

large gear 22 is carried on one or both sides of the casing and securedto the adjacent ground wheel or stub axle, the same adapted to mesh witha pinion 23 mounted on the proj eating end of an upper transverse shaft24: having suitable bearings 25 in the casing wall.

The shaft 2a is designed to drive suitable fanning mechanism indicatedgenerally by the character B, the same being mounted on a vertical shaft26 in the upper portion of the casing 13 above a horizontal partition27. This partition has an opening 28 to provide an inlet for the fanningmechanism B, the shaft 21 extending centrally through said opening 28and at its lower end provided with a beveled pinion 29 adapted to meshwith a similarily formed gear 30 carried on the aforesaid shaft 24:-

A drum G is interposed in the lower portion of the casing 13, it beingmounted upon the transverse shaft 31 which has its end slidably mountedin the slightly curved slots 32. The drum G includes circular end rlms33 connected by the spaced slats 34:. Elongated brushes 35 are securedto the slats 3a and are preferably of such lengths as to contact withthe surface of the street when the drum is rotated about the shaft 31.

v A gear 36 is secured to the shaft 31 adjacent one extremity of thelatter and meshes with the aforesaid gear 20 carried by the stub axle 19whereby the drum C is driven from the drive wheel axle in the directionof travel of the machine and in a direction opposite to the rotation ofthe wheels 18.

A conveyer D is mounted in the forward portion of the casing 13, and asshown, this conveyer is preferably in the form of an endless sprocketchain 37 provided with transverse ribs or slats 38 and adapted torevolve upon sprockets carried by the upper and lower shafts 39 and 40interposed transversely of the casing 13. The shaft 39 is interposedover the inner end of the spout 16, while the shaft a0 is arrangedrelatively close to the ground.

The conveyer mechanism D may be driven in any suitable manner. As shown,it is operated by a suitable driving connection 41 leading from theaforesaid sprocket 21 over an idler 42 and also over a picker bar 43 toa sprocket on the shaft 40. The picker bar &3 is designed as a cleaningdevice to operate upon the brushes 35. If desired, a further brushcleaning element may be provided in the nature of a brush 4d carried atthe outer end of a partition or other suitable element 45 so that duringoperation of the machine the brushes may be cleaned and the dust causedthereby drawn to the upper portion of the casing by the fanningmechanism and the dirt orheavier particles taken up by the conveyer D.

In order that the dirt and other substances lifted from the street maynot be swept sidewise of the machine and to insure that such matterwhich is not lifted by the fanning mechanism B be deposited on theconveyer D, I provide a plurality of dirt or dust receiving members Ewhich I dispose between the rotatable drum C and the lower end of theconveyer D. My improved dirt or dust receiving members are formed alikeand are arranged side by side and preferably suspended from their innerends from a transverse shaft 4:6 shown as positioned slightly above andslightly in the rear of the aforesaid shaft 34.. The lower ends of themembers E are adapted to be drawn along the street and are preferably ofsuch length as to permit a plurality of brushes 2 1 to ride upwardlyover the same during operation of the machine and each may swingindependently of another on said shaft l6 by means of cars d7 formed atthe inner upper ends of the members E. By virtue of the independentlyloose mounting of the members E on the shaft 4E6 any unevenness orinequalities or obstacles encountered in the roadway will permit suchmembers E as contact therewith to swing without causing adjacent membersE to be lifted from engagement with the surface of the street.

When one or more members E are rocked on the shaft 4:6 because of theconditions just referred to, there might be danger of dirt being sweptby the brushes 24: between the side edges of the rocked members E andthe scoops adjacent thereto with the result that the dirt swept orforced between the side edges of the members E would be left on thestreet. To obviate this possibility, I form the members E in a peculiarmanner and the peculiarity in form provides also for the strengtheningof the members E as will be apparent. To these ends each member E isprovided with a curved or concaved body portion 48 having upwardlydirected side flanges &9 which taper from the outer to the inner end ofthe body of the member E, all of the side flanges of the members E lyingnormally side by side in alinement under normal conditions. Each body ofeach mem ber E has on its under side along its longitudinal edgesflanges 50 which taper from the inner end of the body to the outer endthereof and the lower flanges 50 of the members E lie normally inalinement across the machine under normal conditions. The result is thatthe flanges 4:9 and 50 strengthen the bodies of the dirt or dustreceiving members E and in the event that one scoop should be rockedupwardly incident to contact with an obstruction or if one member Eshould drop into a cavity in the road-way or street the flanges of suchmember E would coact in overlapping relation with the flanges ofadjacent scoops to prevent the passage of dirt between the lifted orlowered scoop and the members E adjacent thereto. The members E may beformed in various ways, but as shown, each scoop is composed of twomembers 6 and f which are riveted together or otherwise secured togetheras indicated at g, the member 6 carrying the flanges 49 and the member fcarrying the flanges 50. Thus, by disposition of the transverse shaft 26and the members E mounted to rock thereon being disposed between thelower end of the conveyor mechanism D and under the front portion of thebrush carrying drum C, the heavier particles lifted from the street bythe brushes are caused to be carried directly onto the conveyermechanism D and carried by the latter to the upper portion of the casing13 and finally discharged I provide means for liftin the brush carryingdrum and the brushes and also the members E clear of the surface of thestreet in the event that it is desired to transport the lever from oneplace to another .without operating the machine for street cleaningpurposes. To lift the brush carrying drum from operative engagement withthe surface of the street any suitable means may be provided, but asshown, I fulcrum a bell crank lever 51 on one or both of the stub angles19, the angular arm it of the lever 51 carrying the extremity of theshaft 31 so as to move the shaft 31 in the curved slot 52 in which theshaft 31 is mounted. The outer end of the lever or levers 51 has a griplever 53 pivoted thereon and to which is connected a slidable dog 54adaptedto engage interchangeably the teeth of the curved rack 55 so asto hold the shaft 31 in adjusted position in the curved slots 52,whereby the brush carrying drum may be adjusted and held in adjustedpositions with relation to the surface of the street.

The members E may be lifted off of the surface of the street in anysuitable manner, but as shown, this may be accomplished by a rod 56slidably mounted in brackets 57 secured to the side of the casing 13 andat its inner end having a loose connection with a rock shaft 58 providedwith the offset portion 59 whereby manipulation of the rod 56 willprovide for a raising or lowering of the members E.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the lighter particles ofmatter caused to be lifted from the surface of the street under theaction of my improved sweeper will be lifted by the fanning mechanism Athrough the opening 28 in the partition 27 and blown toward the upperinner end of the casing 13 and out through the discharge spout 16 andthat the heavier particles will be swept up and over the members E ontothe conveyer mechanism D.

through the spout 16.

Various changes may be made in the form and arrangements of parts solong as such material departure in the structure, is not made as willdepart from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The essential part of my invention resides in the peculiar formation,location and ar rangement of the dirt or dust receiving members E.

What I claim is- 1. In a street sweeping and cleaning implement, thecombination with a sweeping mechanism, of an apron mounted on theimplement consisting of a plurality of swingingly mounted dirt or dustreceiving members whose free ends normally contact with the surface ofthe street, each of said members having upstanding and depending sideflanges.

2. In a street sweeping and cleaning implement, the combination with asweeping mechanism, of an apron plement consisting of a plurality ofswingingly mounted dirt or dust receiving memers whose free endsnormally contact with the surface of the street, each of said membershaving a slightly concaved body portion and upstanding and dependingside flanges which slidably overlap the flanges of adjacent memberswhereby upon swingingmovement of any of the said members, the dust anddirt are carried upwardly over the members and prevented from beingforced between the members or beyond the sides of the members.

3. In a street sweeping and cleaning implement, the combination with asweeping mechanism, of anapron consisting of a plurality of dirt or dustreceiving members whose rear ends normally drag along the surface of thestreet, each of said members having upstanding tapering side flanges andalso having depending tapering side flanges, the flanges of eachmemberbeing slidable over the flanges of adjacent members.

1. In a street sweeping and cleaning implement, the combination with asweeping mechanism, of a horizontal shaft carried on the implement, andan apron consisting of a plurality of dirt or dust receiving memiersswingingly mounted on said shaft and whose rear ends normally drag alongthe surface of the street, whereby said members may swing on said shaftupon striking an obstruction or when falling into a depression in thesurface of the street, each of said members having upstanding anddepending flanges at its sides, and means for lifting the rear ends ofsaid members together out of contact with the surface of the street. 7

5. In a street sweeping and cleaning implement, the combination with asweeping mechanism, of a shaft mounted on the immounted on the im-'plement, and'zm apron consisting of a pluconnection of the respectivedust receiving rality of dirt and dust receiving members, member on saidshaft.

the body portion of each of which includes In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature slightly concaved upper and lower portions in the presenceof two Witnesses;

' secured together, the upper portion havlng upstanding side fiangesandthe lowerpor- MARTIN BRUMBAUGH' tion of each of said members havingdependlVitnesses: ing side flanges, one of said body portions I. F.DAVIS, formed to provide an ear for a swinging JOHN MGCULLOCH.

Copies of this natent may be obtained. for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

